Labelling machines



Nov. 8, 1955 Filed sept. 14, 1954 S. E. BANKS LABELLING MACHINES 5 Sheecs--Sheerl l lllllllluqf.;

NOV. 8, S E BANKS LABELLNG MACHINES Filed Sept. 14, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,fg 25 f 22 a ATTORNEYS Nov. 8, 1955 s. E. BANKS LABELLING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 14, 1954 n f Y simu-IHM A 1 Arrow/Em' United States Patent @ffice 2,723,042 Patented Nov. 8, 1955 LABELLING MACHINES Sydney Ernest Banks, Sheffield, England, assigner of onehalf to Morgan Fairest Limited, Sheffield, England Application September 14, 1954, Serial No. 455,990

Claims. (Cl. 216-13) This invention relates to labelling machines of the type comprising a conveyor and feed mechanism adapted to feed a succession of upright bottles or like articles, an article-driving member rotatable about a vertical axis, with driving projections for articles fed to the driving member and labelling bars alternating with the projections and each movable towards an article driven by a projection, a label stack, means to transfer labels from the stack to the labelling bars, and a gumming device to apply gum to each label in turn.

According to the present invention, a labelling machine of the type referred to comprises, all with vertical axes, a multi-sided pick-up box, with vertically apertured sides and provided with means to rotate the box intermittently, a continuously rotatable transfer member, with `vertical transfer bars adapted by the rotation of the member to pass into and out of the pick-up box by the apertures in a circle tangential to the movement circle of the projections of the driving member of the machine together with means to gum the apertured pick-up box sides, a label stack movable towards and away from a side of the pick-up box, a suction aperture in each transfer bar to hold to the bar a label that has received gum from an apertured side and has been detached by passage of the bar out of the box through the aperture, and a suction aperture in each labelling bar to enable the bar to take over a gummed label from a transfer bar during the continuous rotation of the transfer bar.

The multi-sided pick-up box may be very rapidly moved so that each side comes to rest at intervals corresponding to the rate of article feed, and the transfer bars move rst into the pick-up box (through a side carrying no label) and then out of it (through a gummed side lthat has picked a label from the stack) in the intervals of rest of the box. The transfer bars moving continuously, as also does the driving member, the main movements are those of simple rotation, i. e., except for such items as the light, apertured pick-up box, the label stack, and the sundry parts of the mechanism that are light enough to perform their individual movements quickly. The machine is thus capable of high rates of feeding by reason of the mainly rotational movements of its mechanism. The transfer of labels from the transfer bars to the labelling bars by the movement of the former into and out of the circle of movement of the latter requires very little space to be provided for the introduction of each transfer bar into that circle of movement; consequently, the projections of the driving member may be closely spaced to permit one article to follow another in close succession in the closed circuit of the labelling bars. This makes for a compact construction, and compactness also assists in achieving a high rate of operation.

It is also an advantage of the invention that the application of gum to a label at the pick-up box is substantially in advance of the application of thatlabel to its article, since the label has rst to be transported.' from the pickup box by a transfer bar and then transported to an articlel by a labelling bar; consequently, notwithstanding the high rate of operation achievable by the machine, a material interval of time is provided for the gum to be absorbed by the label, and this ensures that the label is in good adhesive condition by the time it is applied to the article.

Preferably, the rate of movement of the transfer bars in their circular orbit is greater than that of the labelling bars in their own circular orbit, with the transfer member and the driving member so phased that as a transfer bar (with label) intersects the orbit of the labelling bars it overtakes one labelling bar to ensure pressing of the label to it. A stationary cam associated with the driving member controls the movements of the labelling bars with respect to their driving projections, and a spring for each bar to urge it towards its driving projection under control of the cam. The contact of a transfer bar (with label) and a labelling bar overcomes the spring. The cam is preferably formed to withdraw each labelling bar from a transfer bar after contact, so that the transfer bar may continue its circular orbit clear of the labellingbar, now carrying the label, by transfer lbar suction being cut olf and suction being applied by the labelling bar.

Since each labelling arm can only hold a label in contact with a small arc of the circumference of bottle or other article of circular section, the application of a label to cover a large arc leaves ends of the label to be brought into contact with the article. This may be effected in known manner by one or more pairs of wipers (flaps, brushes, or rollers) through which the article is carried after first application of the label. Similarly with articles of non-circular section, e. g. square bottles: the whole width of a label may be wiper or pressed to the article and even round corner to engage adjacent sides of the article.

The invention may be used for applying more than one label to each article, e. g. both body-labels and neck-labels to bottles. Thus, with each labelling bar there may be a supplementary bar, spring-urged away from the main bar towards the neck of a bottle. Two different labels may be applied to each pick-up box side of suitable height, transferred by the same transfer bar, and presented by the labelling bar and its supplementary bar. `Appropriate wipers complete the application of the body-labels and the neck-labels. The continuous movement of the transfer bars into and out of the pick-up box makes for great simplicity in the `simultaneous application of more than one label to each article, since the assembly of the labels and the application of gum takes place away from the driving member, and leaves each transfer bar free to transfer more than one label with the same facility as for a single label, with but the simple addition of a supplementary bar to each labelling bar to effect the application of the labels to each article.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures l and 2 are front elevation and plan respectively of the complete machine;

Figure 3 is a'plan, to a larger scale, of the pick-up and transfer members, together with label stacks and gumming device;

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an underneath plan of a detail of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a part-sectional elevation of the driving member and the labelling bars;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan taken on the line 7 7 of Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the correlation of a transfer bar with a labelling bar.

In Figures l and 2, a pedestal 10 carries a conveyor 11 by which bottles 12 are brought to a worm feed device 13, which delivers them in uniform spacing to gaps between eight driving projections 14 extending outwardly and upwardlyl from a rotary driving (or delivery) member, 15 (Figure 6) of a delivery head 16. The bottles 12 are slid from the conveyor 11 on to a dead plate 17 surrounded by a guard rail 18 and, when labelled, eventually pass from the delivery head 16 to a rotary discharge table .19. They may be removed by hand from the table 19, or they may be conveyed elsewhere. Figure 2 showing a further conveyor 2b serving to return the bottles to the conveyor 11.

The delivery head 16 and the table 19 rotate continuously about their vertical axes, and a transfer member 21 also rotates continuously about a vertical axis. The member 21 has six radiating arms 22 carrying depending transfer bars 23 (see also Figures 3 and 4) that pass into the gaps between the driving projections 14.

A six-sided pick-up box 24 is intermittently rotatable about a vertical axis and comes to rest in a position in f which the circular orbit of the transfer bars 23 cuts the middle of two sides of the box 24 The six sides have vertical apertures 25 (Figures 3 and 4) and the phasing of the arms 22 of the transfer member 21 is such that one transfer bar 23 passes through an aperture 25 of one side into the box 4 and another bar 23 passes through an aperture 25 of another side out of lthe box 24 just after the box 24 has come to rest.

When the box 24 is at rest, its sides in turn receive gum from a gumming device 26 on lower and upper pairs of external faces 27, 27A and labels 28, 2SA (Figures 3 and 4) are applied to the gurnmed faces from lower and upper label stacks 29, 29A disposed at appropriate heights with respect to the box 24 and movable towards two adjacent sides of the box 24 when the latter is at rest. A transfer bar 23 leaving the pick-up box 24 thus makes contact with the ungummed portion of each of lower and upper labels 28, 28A lying across the aperture 25 of the side of the box 24 that has been rotated into the orbit of the bars 23. The labels are thus detached from the pick-up box 24 and transferred by the bars 23 (to which they are held by suction, as described below) to the delivery member 16.

With the gumming device 26 and the label stacks 29, 29A operating in synchronism with the intermittently rotating pick-up box 24, a continuous supply of gummed labels 28, 28A is presented t0 the continuously rotating transfer member 21, for the bars 23 of the latter to present the labels in synchronism with the succession of bottles 12 fed from the conveyor 11 to the delivery head 16. From first contact of a label with a side of the pick-up box 24 to first contact of a label with a bottle 12, a suliicient interval of time elapses for the liquid gum to be absorbed by the paper of the label, so that the label is in excellent condition for adhesion of its gummed surfaces to the bottle.

Each is accurately positioned on a side of the pick-up box 24 as it is removed by gum adhesion from one of the stacks 29, 29A, and its position is maintained by suction on the bar 23 to which it is transferred. This suction is applied as shown in Figures 4 and 9.

ln Figures 3 and 4, the arms 22 carrying the bars 23 are shown secured to a sleeve 30 driven by a wormwheel 31 and a worm 32 about a stationary tube 33 carried by the pedestal 10. A lower valve member 34 rotates with the sleeve 30 and co-operates with a stationary valve member 35 supplied from two separate sources of suction by tubes 36, 37 passing through the tube 33. The valve part 34 is connected by tubes 33 to the several arms 23, which have passages 39 emerging at openings 4t) and 41 in resilient pads 42, 42A for body-labels 27 and neck-labels 27A respectively.

When an arm 23 rotates towards the delivery member 16, it brings the central (ungummed) portions of its body-label 28 and neck-label 28A into the circular path of the driving projection 14 and at heights corresponding to the positions to be occupied by the labels on a bottle 12 engaged by one of the projections 14. Each projection 14 consists of a V jaw 45 secured at an appropriate height on a square stem 46 to engage the body of a bottle 12 and propel the bottle without causing it to tilt.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, a labelling arm 47 and a supplementary labelling ann 47A are mounted in advance of each projection 14. The arms are pivoted at 48 in a support 49 rotatable with the driving member 15. The arm 4"] carries a depending labelling bar 51 of stiff character and the arm 47A a shorter labelling bar 51A, each having a resilient pad, 52 or 52A, facing the V jaw 4S, with an opening, 53 or 53A, in the pad supplied with suction from passages 54, 54A connected by tubes 5S to a valve member S6 rotatable with the driving member 15. An upper and stationary valve member 57 is supplied with suction by a tube 5S.

The rotary valve member 56 is carried on a support plate 60 that is connected to the support 49 by column 6l. Adjustable plates 62 bridge gaps 63 in the plate 6i) and each provides a vertical bearing 64 for a pivot 65 of a bell crank lever 66, carrying a follower roller 67 that bears on a stationary cam 68 and bearing on a roller 69 on the upper side of the arm 47A. A spring 79 connects the arm 47 to the support 4% and a spring 71 on the arm 47 bears on the arm 47A and tends to urge the arms 47A away from the arm 47 and a pin 72 on the arm 47A out of contact with the arm 47. The combined action of the spring 70, 71 is to urge the roller 69 against the bell crank lever 66 and the roller 67 on that lever against the cam 68.

The pad 52A lies above the pad 52 the bar 51 being off-set as shown in Figure 8, so that labels 28, 23A carried by a transfer bar 23 are brought simultaneously into contact with the pads 52, 52A as the bar passes between a driving projection 14 and the arms 47, 47A. The transfer bars 23 move faster in their circular orbit than do the labelling bars 51, 51A in theirs, and thus overtake the bars 51, 51A. Consequently, the pads 42, 42A have a linear speed slightly greater than that of the pads 52, 52A, and the labels are pressed between pairs of pads. This pressing is more or less instantaneous, and at that instant suction is cut olf the pads 42, 42A, to leave the labels adhering to the pads 52, 52A. The cam 68 rocks the levers 47, 47A away from the driving projection 14, and hence away from the transfer bar 23, and transfer to the labelling bars 51, 51A is complete, the bar 23 moving clear of the bars 51, 51A as it continues in its circular orbit.

The levers 47, 47A remain advanced until a bottle 12 has passed between them and the driving projection 14 on feeding of the bottle from the conveyor 11, and the levers 47, 47A are then permitted by the cam 63 to move towards the bottle. The lever 47A is moved away from the lever 47 by the spring 71 to bring its neck-label into contact with the neck of the bottle. The portion of each bodyor neck-label thus brought into contact with the bottle is the central ungummed portion that had been contacted by the pad 42 or 42A of the transfer bar 23, and the side portions of the label bearing the gum have still to be pressed int-o contact with the bottle. This is eected by lower and upper pairs of brush wipers 73, 73A (Figure 2) between which the bottle passes on its way to the discharge table 19.

Provision is made for applying labels, including both body-labels and neck-labels for bottles, to articles of ditferent sizes or at different heights on any given article in accordance with the height of application of the labels to the pick-up box. The pick-up box 24 has pairs of gumming surfaces 27, 27A at appropriate heights, which heights may be most conveniently adjusted by replacement of the box 24 itself. The gumming device 26 has a vertical sweep of its pairs of gumming rollers 74 sufficient to cover any position of the surfaces 27, 27A and the label stacks 29, 29A are disposed at corresponding heights. The transfer member 23 may itself be replaced to provide pads 42, 42A at corresponding heights. The transfer arms 47, 47A, or their bars 51, 51A, may be also replaceable, but in general a vertical adjustment of the support 49 provides for the adjustment of the height of their pads 52, 52A. As shown in Figure 7, the support 49 has a splined driving connection 75 with the driving member 15. A collar 76 on the lower end of a central stem 77 provides a rest for the support 49, the stem 77 being held concentric by a spindle 78 extending from the driving member 15. The stem 77 is carried by an arm 79 from a sleeve 80 slidable on a column 81 on the pedestal and adjustable by a screw 82 under the control of a hand-wheel 83. The cam 68 is secured to the stem 77. The plate 60 is lifted and lowered with the support 49, as also are the valve members 56, 57.

Since the main parts of the machine have continuous rotary motion, their being driven from a suitable source of power needs very simple driving connections, which call for no special description. A chain sprocket 84 (Figure 6) serves for driving the delivery member 16; the worm 32 for driving the transfer member 21 is shown in Figure 4; and Figure 4 shows bevel gears 85 to drive a shaft 86 from which the label stacks 29, 29A and the pick-up box 24 are driven.

The shaft 86 carries a crank 87 for a connecting rod 88 capable of sliding in and rocking about a trunnion 89 of a sliding base 90 carrying one of the stacks 29, 29A. The crank 87 compresses a spring 91 that urges the stack towards the pick-up box 24. This movement of the stack is only possible when a latch 92 is freed from a projection 93 on the base 90. Freeing of the latch 92 is eiected by a spring 94, which is however overcome by a solenoid 95 connected to one of two detector switches 96 (Figure 2) opposite the feed worm 13. Passage of a bottle 12 opens the switches 96 in turn and therefore deenergises the solenoids 95 of the two stacks 29, 29A in turn. Absence of a bottle in the feed-sequence past the worm 13 leaves the solenoids 95 energised, and the cranks 87 cannot advance the stacks towards the pick-up box 24, but merely compress the spring 91 of each stack. Thus, one body-label and one neck-label are omitted from the box 24 at a phase in the operation of the machine that ensures that there are no labels on the labelling bars` operating in a position corresponding to the one that should have been occupied by a bottle in the gap in the feed.

The crank spring, solenoid etc. for the second stack are not shown in Figure 4. They are identical with the mechanism shown, and driven from a gear 97 on the shaft 26.

The shaft 86 carries one member 98 of a Geneva-stop mechanism (Figures 4 and 5), the other member 99 being secured to the pick-up box 24 and having six slots 100 to provide the intermittent motion of the box 24.

What I claim is:

l. A labelling machine comprising a conveyor, feed mechanism adapted to feed a succession of upright articles, and, all with vertical axes, an article-driving member having driving projections and labelling bars in alternation, with each labelling bar movable towards an article driven by a projection, a multi-sided pick-up box, with vertically apertured sides, and provided with means to rotate the box intermittently, a continuously rotatable transfer member mounted between the pick-up box and article driving member and having vertical transfer bars adapted by rotation of the member to pass into and out of the pick-up box by the apertures in a circle tangentialto the movement of the projections of the driving member, means to gun the apertured pick-up box sides, a label stack movable towards and away from a side of the pickup box, and adapted to deposit a label on the gummed side of the pick-up box, a suction aperture in each transfer bar to hold to the transfer bar a label that has received gum from an apertured side and has been detached from the pick-up box by passage of the transfer bar out of the box through the aperture, a suction aperture in each labelling bar to enable such .bar to take over a gummed label from a transfer bar during the continuous rotation of the transfer bar and deposit the label on the article.

2. A labelling machine as in claim 1, wherein the rate of movement of the transfer bars is greater than that of the labelling bars, and the transfer member and the labelling bars are so phased that as a transfer bar moves tangential to the labelling bars it overtakes one labelling bar to ensure pressing of a label carried by the transfer bar to the labelling bar.

3. A labelling machine as in claim 2, comprising a stationary cam associated with the driving member to control the movements of the labelling bars with respect to their driving projections, and a spring for each bar to urge it towards its driving projection under control of the cam, this spring being overcome when a transfer bar overtakes a labelling bar.

4. A labelling machine as in claim 3, wherein the cam is formed to withdraw each labelling bar from a transfer bar after being overtaken.

5. A labelling machine as in claim l, comprising a pick-up box with apertured sides of suitable height to receive two labels, two label stacks disposed at appropriate heights with respect to the pick-up box, so as to present two labels for detachment by each transfer bar from each side of the pick-up box.

6. A labelling machine as in claim 5, comprising a supplementary labelling bar for each labelling bar of the driving member, the labelling bar and its supplementary bar each receiving a label from each transfer bar.

7. A labelling machine as in claim 6, comprising a spring to urge a supplementary bar away from its labelling arm to ensure that each bar brings its label into contact with an article.

8. A labelling machine as in claim l, comprising means for adjusting the height of the labelling bars in the driving member in accordance with the height of application of labels to the pick-up box for any given article.

9. A labelling machine for labelling a succession of upright articles comprising an intermittently rotatable multi-sided pick-up box with vertical axis and vertically apertured sides, means to apply gum to the sides of the box, means to apply labels to the gummed sides of the box across the apertures, a continuously rotatable transfer member with vertical axes and vertical transfer bars movable into and out of the pick-up box through the apertures and vertical labelling bars movable in an orbit intersected by the transfer bars to receive from the transfer bars labels detached from the pick-up box and to apply the labels to the succession of articles.

10. A labelling machine as in claim 9, comprising a driving member continuously rotatable about a vertical axis with driving projections to engage the articles, a support rotatable with the driving member, the labelling bars being carried by the support in advance of the driving projections, and means for adjusting the height of the support with respect to the driving member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,635,765 Fauest et al Apr. 21, 1953 2,687,821y Fauest Aug. 31, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 723,881 Germany Aug. 12, 1942 

